Inhabiting the lands of America are the fiddle back or brown recluse spiders that are dreaded by many.Brown recluse spiders inhabit the lands of America and are commonly found living in the wilderness or inside homes in search of food and hiding places. Being extremely shy and solitary in nature, brown recluse spiders are often found hiding in various places that are left undisturbed, dry, and warm.This nocturnal brown spider hunts prey, including smaller pest insects, and is not known to weave webs. It lays nearly five egg sacs containing 50 eggs in each sac, hence showing great reproductive potential. The brown recluse spider has also been named fiddleback spider for exhibiting a violin-shaped marking on its back.Unlike a wolf spider with eight eyes on its head, a brown recluse has six eyes and eight legs. It is dark brown with a body length of 1-2 in (2.54-5.08 cm). Their bite is not very poisonous, although a few cases of severe damage have been recorded in the past. Hence, seeking medical help is advised to avoid complications.Keep reading to discover more facts about the fiddle back spider! If you like this article, go on and check out how do spiders mate and do spiders hibernate to discover lesser-known facts about them and much more here on Kidadl.Why is it called fiddle back?The term ‘fiddle’ stands for a musical instrument called a violin. Hence, the name ‘fiddleback spider.’ This violin-shaped marking is basically a black line. The violin shape is such that the violin’s neck is pointing downwards towards the rear of the spider. It is marked as a sign of adulthood as it is absent in juvenile brown recluse spiders.The fiddleback spider belongs to the animal kingdom of phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnida, and order Araneae. It is a part of the Sicariidae family and genus Loxosceles. The scientific name assigned to this spider species is Loxosceles reclusa. Various nicknames such as fiddle back, brown fiddler, or violin spider result from a particular marking found on the body of this spider, precisely on the dorsal side of its cephalothorax.Is a fiddle back spider poisonous?Spider bites vary across different species, wherein some are extremely dangerous, and some have no effect at all. Shy and secretive are the adjectives commonly used to describe brown recluse spiders. Therefore, instances of a recluse spider bite have seldom been recorded. A brown recluse spider bite is not very poisonous, but it is capable of leaving you in distress for a couple of weeks.A brown recluse spider will not bite you unless it feels threatened or provoked. In other words, they are nonaggressive. Instances where brown recluse bites have been recorded show that they usually bite when squeezed between things. For this reason, you should always check inside your shoes before wearing them and be careful while sorting materials inside boxes, closets, and so on. Usually, the bites are painless and resemble a pimple in the early stages, and may take three to eight hours to develop into something serious. The affected area turns red, swollen, and tender and takes nearly three weeks to heal and fade away.Essential oils like lavender may speed up the healing process. But it is advised that you consult a medical professional as soon as you realize the bite on your skin as the bite may be potent enough and lead to severe diseases such as damaged tissue and even necrosis.Where do fiddler spiders live?The population of brown recluse spiders or fiddler spiders is primarily restricted to the United States of America. They spread across Nebraska to Ohio and in the southern states of Texas to Florida. Its population is mainly concentrated in the center of the geographical range that may home nearly hundreds and thousands of them within a small area.Like black widows, brown recluse spiders are extremely shy and solitary. They prefer a life of secrecy, and hence, they tend to look for dark areas that are generally away from human reach and remain undisturbed. A brown recluse spider can be found under logs and rocks in the wilderness. However, they are attracted towards human habitations (houses, barns, and basements) in search of better conditions that can provide a variety of food and hiding places. Some of the locations preferred by them are shoes, crawl spaces, boxes, rubber tires, furniture, clothing, bedding, or any area that is dark, dry, and warm. Hiding in such places also results in the transportation of these creatures.There have been instances where new places that are outside of the recluse range have developed infestation. This usually happens while relocating items such as boxes, furniture, and other things with recluse spiders in them. Therefore, treating such infestations is extremely necessary to avoid the multiplication of these creatures in a given area.How To Identify & Control Fiddle Back SpidersBrown recluse spiders have adapted to live in human habitations for two significant reasons, food and hiding places. A brown recluse spider feeds upon smaller pest insects and hides in dark areas left undisturbed or unclean. They can also be transported to different places when relocating items such as boxes, furniture, and other things with recluse spiders in them. Read on to find out the most straightforward ways by which you can control brown recluse spider infestation.Brown recluse infestations escalate rapidly since they multiply in huge numbers. Identifying the infested areas and obstructing brown recluses from entering your house are the two significant ways of controlling the infestation. The first and most crucial step to prevent recluse infestation is by keeping every nook and cranny clean. Next, places such as cracks and crevices, corners, wall-floor junctures, walls behind and beneath beds and furniture must be checked using a bright flashlight to locate infested areas. This will reduce the scope of recluse spider nesting in the likely places. Besides the brown recluses themselves, shed skin along with egg sacs and webs can also be a sign of infestation. They may also infest attics, basements, and barns outside the house. The best way to obstruct transportation of these pests inside your homes is by sealing the cracks and crevices on walls, sorting materials inside boxes and closets, and blocking other entry points such as vents, gaps, and below doors.How do you get rid of them?Brown recluse spiders have high reproductive potential; that is, an average of five egg sacs are laid by them, each egg sac containing nearly 50 eggs in them. Hence, infestations by brown recluses are extremely concerning as it spreads like wildfire. However, getting rid of these pests is not much of a hassle. Identifying the infested areas and controlling their entry inside your house are the two steps to begin your mission of driving these pests away.One of the easiest ways to trap a brown recluse spider is by installing sticky cards or glue traps capable of capturing and killing them. Mice and cockroaches are often trapped using these cards that are easily available at grocery and hardware stores and online. Sticky traps that are flat pieces of paper without any raised edges are best suited for trapping most spiders, and hence, the same must be used for a brown recluse spider. All the likely infested corners, including wall-floor junctures, below beds and furniture, and all the places where the brown recluse spiders are likely to wander must be filled with these traps. You can check the credibility of these traps by keeping track of the number of new brown recluses that get caught on them. Another way to eliminate brown recluse spider infestation is by using insecticides. Insecticides must be used after laying glue traps as certain chemicals will increase their (especially the males) activity and have them walk into the traps. The females are generally less active and hardly get captured on the glue traps. Hence, insecticides are the only option to get at them. These insecticides may be in the form of liquid, dust, or aerosol. They must be applied to the hiding places such as cracks and along wires on the walls, behind furniture, below beds and doors, and other crawl spaces where the brown recluses will come directly in contact with the insecticides.Some of the effective dust insecticides include DeltaDust® (deltamethrin), Drione®, Tempo® (cyfluthrin), Cimexa®, and Tri-Die® (silica gel) that can be applied using a hand duster. Physically removing webs and spraying the orange oil products in the infested areas will also help eliminate the recluse spiders.Bites And Medical SignificanceA brown recluse spider generally does not bite, except when provoked. A lot of fright and misinformation regarding a brown recluse spider bite has spread, leading people to misidentify harmless spiders as brown recluses. However, brown recluse bites are not very poisonous.Brown recluse spiders tend to bite if you step on them on the floor while wearing shoes or sorting things inside boxes and closets. The squeezing sensation provokes them to bite. Therefore, such instances must be avoided to stay away from brown recluse spider bites. It is pretty natural to overlook such a bite in the beginning as it is painless. However, it may lead to complications that would require medical intervention. Common symptoms include redness and swelling of the affected area, joint pain, tissue damage, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Hence, you must seek medical attention at the earliest if/when you encounter such a bite. Medical professionals generally ask about the particular spider that has bitten you. This helps them to provide customized treatment. So, identifying the spider or even a picture of it will help to avoid misdiagnoses.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for fiddle-back spider, then why not take a look at what eats spiders or Recluse Spider Facts.
Inhabiting the lands of America are the fiddle back or brown recluse spiders that are dreaded by many.
